Tainan

After hearing people rave over the small Taiwanese eats in Tainan (台南小吃）， I decided to give the city one last chance. I've been to Tainan three times but it was only on my third visit-- last week-- that I actually began to appreciate the city. Why did it take so long? Well, I'd say it's because I finally took the time to explore the city on foot and more importantly, to taste all the delicious food that Tainan is famous for. My conclusion? Tainan has a more Taiwanese feel to it than Taipei because the culture and tradition is better preserved. The food was definitely worth the trip. Taiwanese street foods may not be pleasing to the eyes but they are definitely palatable. Many restaurants have been open for generations.

A roadside restaurant

Sweet rice with pork sauce （米糕）

Stir-fried eel noodles (鱔魚意麵)

Taiwanese dessert place (shaved ice and warm sweet soup)

8 treasure sweet soup (八寶湯)

Anping Old Street (安平老街)

Anping Fort Museum (安平古堡)

Anping flower tofu (安平豆花)

Fried shrimp rolls (蝦捲)

Dan dan rice noodles (擔擔米粉)

Fried fish thick noodles soup (土魠魚羹)

Shrimp/meat dumpling with shrimp sauce (蝦仁肉圓)

A visit to Tainan is not complete without visiting family so here I am with my neice

The Christmas display in the lobby of Tayih Landis (our hotel) ho ho ho!

November events

Dennis recently celebrated his 32th birthday, which was marked by dinner at the Sheraton Hotel and a birthday cake at home. Hope your wish will come true!

Somehow, Dennis and I got everyone excited about having a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner and we held it last Friday. Since Thanksgiving is not a national holiday in Taiwan, it was more convenient for everyone to have it on a weekend.

Finding the turkey was quite a challenge. We finally found one at the grocery store in Taipei 101 and it was NOT cheap (~$45 USD for 12. 7 lbs).

What was suppose to be a small family dinner of 6 evolved into a dinner for 13 (luckily, 13 is not an unlucky number in Asian). Since the turkey was relatively large, we invited our aunt, uncle, three cousins, one of the cousin's girlfriend, and another aunt.

Cooking together with so many people was actually a lot of fun. Everybody had a wonderful time. And yes, we were all completely stuffed. We couldn't even finish the turkey, despite having 13 mouths to feed.

I have so much to give thank for this year but I'll start with good family and friends.

So many people in the kitchen.

Jennifer is making seafood pasta, I'm supposed to be making gravy for the turkey.

Left to right: Carol, Cynthia, and cousin's gf (not sure what her name is)

Dennis carving the turkey with with from Cynthia

Dennis carving turkey with help from Cynthia and Carol (is it that hard??)

After dinner, dessert time! (all homemade, of course)

After dinner and dessert, everybody hanging around in front of the TV.

Autumn

I should get in the habit of updating my blog more often. Since I last posted, the weather in Taipei has gotten noticeably colder. Autumn in Taipei brings darkness and gloom, just like the current financial crisis. The global recession has worsen significantly. I don't even bother to check my portfolio anymore, it's too depressing. But, I'm not complaining because I know so many people are actually suffering from this financial crisis.

It's mind-boggling how fast the global economy spiraled downward and how interconnected we are. What started out as a subprime mortgage crisis in the US has now evolved into a full-blown global recession--last week, 11 countries formally acknowledged that they are in a recession. Only a few months ago, it was inconceivable for the oil price to fall below $100/barrel--it is currently below $50/barrel.

Who would've known that we would witness so many important events, both good and bad, in our lifetime --the internet revolution, 9/11, the current financial meltdown, our nation's first African-American president. I can only pray that we will not encounter another full-blown crisis, an environmental crisis. The picture looks bleak indeed. 1 in 4 animals are in danger of becoming extinct. The arctic icecap is melting at an alarming rate. Countries such as Kiribati will have to relocate because of the rising sea level. I truly hope we can reverse the trend before it's too late. Call me naive but I have faith that our next president will help steer the country in the right direction. At the very least, Obama acknowledges that global warming is a fact, not a fiction.

On a personal note, not much has changed since I last updated. Same routine: school, work, school, work. I did attend Michael Wong's (光良) concert this past Sunday. It was his first time performing in Taiwan, a fact I find hard to believe. With over 3 solid hours of superb singing, it was definitely a worthwhile experience. As I sang along to Fairytale, tears came to my eyes. No matter how dark and cold it gets, there will always be something to be thankful about and to look forward to.

I do miss seeing the sunlight in Taipei but at least it's no longer hot and humid.

Athen, Greece

I got back on Saturday from a 10-day trip to Greece. We spent three days in Athens and mainland Greece, two days in Mykonos, two days in Santorini, and the rest on the flight. The trip was rather exhausting but well worth it. Overall, Greece is a lively country with a rich history. Did you know there are more tourists than locals for most of the year in Greece? According to our tour guide, many Greeks only work for six months and the rest of the year, they go back to their island and relax. In general, Greeks are pretty laid back. But, if you happen to walk by a restaurant or cafe, don't be surprise if waiters try to pull you in. Competition between different vendors for tourist business is fierce! One thing I found annoying about Greece is the lack of non-smoking places. There are smokers EVERYWHERE (restaurants, hotel lobbies, cafes, streets...). Aside from that, Greece is definitely a place worth visiting. I have tons of pictures so I'll separate them by specific places.

Let's start with mainland Greece, in particular, Athens.

Mycenae (fortress-town of the Aegean civilization, located 90-km southwest of Athens)

View from the highest point of Mycenae

Theater at Epidauros

Changing of the guards in front of the city hall

Poseidon Temple

One of the MANY sleeping dogs in the city

Statue of Poseidon at the National Archaeological Museum

Dennis and the pigeons

Corinth Canal

View from our restaurant (which was literally next to the water)

Theatro Dionysiou (part of the Acropolis)

Erechtheion (part of the Acropolis)

Parthenon (part of the Acropolis)

View of Athen from the Acropolis

1896 Summer Olympics stadium

I believe I'll upload pictures of Mykonos and Santorini another day. Stay tune.

Back to school time!

You know school has started when you're walking to the bus stop and you see a sea of students waiting there. To make matters worse, when the bus arrives, you have to squeeze yourself in because there are so many students on the bus. Did I mention it's still hot in Taiwan?

Moving on to a more pleasant subject, I saw Mamma Mia and the Dark Knight last week. Talk about movies at the opposite ends of the spectrum! Mamma Mia was lighthearted and happy while the Dark Knight was, well serious and depressing. However, I thought both movies were fantastic and I highly recommend them. They were both very touching, though in different ways. Oh, definitely see the Dark Knight on IMAX; the picture was incredibly beautiful.

All in all, this summer's movies exceeded my expectation; definitely better than last summer.

Okinawa cruise

I've started teaching English three weeks ago so I've been pretty busy. This past Friday was the last day of Chinese school at 台大. I will be transferring to 師大 next semester because it's closer to where I live. I had a wonderful time in Chinese school; I got to know a lot of interesting people, including two Tibetan monks in my class.

Over two weeks ago, I went on a three-day cruise from Keelung, Taiwan to Okinawa, Japan. Our cruise ship is called Star Cruises, Superstar Libra. There are ten decks on the ship and five restaurants (but only three are free: Chinese, Western, and a buffet). Overall, the cruise experience is about average. The service was not that great; many of the staff were rude and not helpful. The food was average. However, the performances and shows were excellent. Okinawa is a beautiful island; it reminded me a lot of Hawaii. It's very different from the rest of Japan; apparently the people of Okinawa speak their own language. I wish I had more time to explore Okinawa.

Our ship

9th and 10th deck
Ocean Palace (Chinese food)
Buffet (Asian and Western food)

Breakfast from Chinese restaurant

A dish from the Western restaurant (Can't remember the name)

Dennis and his monkey